Social Bookmarking and More Top SEO Tips for 2007 - 9. Google Custom Desktop and Google Alerts for Content
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If you are not using Google Customized Desktop, Google Reader, or some type of RSS feed reader already, you should definitely start using one. The easiest way to accomplish this for a complete novice (but is actually the way I do it) is with your GMail account. This is something else you should already be using. For the data storage alone you should be using it. If you need an invitation to open one, send me a request and I'll send an invite (garythescubadiver@gmail.com). You will need a GMail account to use this tool.
With a GMail account you can go to the Google home page and log in using your email. In the top right corner is a link for "Add stuff." It allows you to add specific URLs and it will pull the last 1-10 entries from that page and populate your Google Desktop.
Google Alerts is a fantastic tool. You enter your search term and whenever Google finds your term while crawling the web it will send you an email with a link to it. I have alerts on everything from "google datacenters" to "DMOZ" and "Matt Cutts" to "Danny Sullivan."
When I look for content, I use these as reference tools. They are not meant to be used to scrape content or plagiarize other websites.
There are many other uses for these if you put your head to it.
10. Use Press Releases AND Syndication
Press releases are a fantastic way to get natural one-way links, and also attract fresh traffic. If they are done correctly they can be the main source for building traffic, gaining ranking positions and building trust with the search engines. But don't just write them; send them to the right places.
In the United States I use PRWeb, and in the UK and Europe I use SourceWire to syndicate articles. Both originally started as PR companies before the web came around so they have excellent connections with real syndicated sources. The web sites that they send the articles to will re-syndicate them to even more web sites. You will pay between £20-£40/$20-$60 depending on the amount of press releases that you send them.
The articles that you syndicate should be authoritative or about something that will attract people to it, like Top 12 SEO Tips for 2007, or Ten Reasons Why ______________. You should quote trusted authorities and always reference the source when possible. I use Wikipedia or news sources like Google News, BBC, or CNN. I believe this actually adds trust to an article and in 3-6 months when Google pushes out Page Rank, the probation period for giving you full value is reduced.
Valuable content will be natural link bait and you will also get real traffic from it.
Pull a unique phrase from the article (mine is GaryTheScubaGuy) and add a Google Alert to it (#9 above). Choose to be alerted "as it happens." When you get an alert (typically within 6-12 hours), go to the page and place a Social Bookmark on the page. (I will talk more about this technique in the next tip.)
Next: 11. THE SECRET WEAPON: Social Bookmarking >>
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